ABSTRACT
The social environments in which people live, defined as their immediate physical surroundings, social relationships, and cultural milieus (Barnett & Casper, 2001), shape their lifelong health. These social environments occur at multiple levels—from the household level to the level of neighborhoods and communities to society as a whole (Warnecke et al., 2008)—and they interact with one another in complex ways to influence health. Strong, supportive families may live in impoverished communities that receive scant resources and attention from society. These communities are often cut off from mainstream society, limiting residents’ exposure to health information (Browne, 2011; Fullilove, 2004). Conversely, extremely disengaged families may live within neighborhoods and communities that are rich in social and material resources and privy to health information.
